The word horsepower(马力)was first used two hundred years ago. James Watt had made the first widely used steam(蒸气)engine. He had no way of tellingpeople exactly how powerful it was, for at that time there were no units for measuring(测量) power.
Watt decided to find out how much measure the work his steam engine could do.
He discovered that a horse could lift a 3,300-pound weight 10 feet into the air in one minute. His engine could lift a 3,300-pound weight 100 feet in one minute.
Because his engine did ten times as much work as the horse, Watt called it a ten horsepower engine.
1、The passagesays that Watt made the first widely used steam engine.
2、Watt made up a unit of measurement based on the strength of a horse.
3、Watt wanted to find a way to lift a 3300-pound weight.
4、One horsepower would equal the weight a horse could lift.
5、The title of the passageis 'How the Term Horsepower Came into Being'.